Making it all add up

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Robin DeMerell THE NEWS-TIMES

Published
1:00 am EDT, Saturday, April 15, 2006

Anyone who has ever struggled with math can identify - the teacher seems to be talking a mile a minute while numbers swirl on the blackboard. As the numbers increase, so does the frustration, and math becomes more than a problem.

Eleven-year-old Shane McKay said he felt so overwhelmed at times, he simply forgot what to do. The Rogers Park sixth-grader said he felt like tearing his hair out.

Then he met Izzuddian Diwan, a Danbury High School senior, in a math tutoring program and things are finally adding up for him.

Every Tuesday and Thursday at the city's two middle schools - Rogers Park and Broadview - 24 students meet with 12 high school tutors for help in math.

The "One-on-One Math Tutoring Program" has an overall 90 percent success rate, said Pat Bear, the Danbury Youth Services project director who came up with the program.

She said the funding was there through Danbury Youth Services, and she went to the schools to see what their needs were.

"They wanted to focus on math scores," said Bear, who is certified as a teacher.

The program was launched in December 2004 with eight students at each school.

In the first semester this school year, math grades at Rogers Park increased 81 percent, and 75 percent at Broadview.

"One hundred percent of the teachers think it's a worthwhile program. They want to continue it and expand it," Bear said. The parents have also given the program rave reviews - and the students love working with the teens and getting higher grades.

The tutors are all above-average students at Danbury High. The tutors must have a B-plus or better in math with an overall B average. They tutor two students, each for one hour, between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. and earn $10 an hour.

"We decided to hire high school students," Bear said. "Dynamite kids. I was so impressed with the Danbury High School kids."

Bear created a two-hour training program with a manual of policies and procedures on how to tutor. Most tutors return for another semester.

"That's a good sign - they want to come back," said Bear. She said all the tutors have different styles of teaching. They try to figure out the best method depending on whether the student learns better by hearing, seeing or doing.

"You can tell whether they learn by playing games or talking or going to the blackboard," said Ekta Patel, 16, who is tutoring for her second semester.

In order for students to be accepted in the program, they must have a C-plus or less in math and their Connecticut Mastery Test scores must be below proficiency. But more importantly, "they need to have a desire to be there," Bear said.

"I'd be in class and all my friends would get it," said Rose. "I started thinking 'What's the point of math?'"

But, thanks to her tutor, Prety Kharawala, 18, who checks over her homework and simplifies the lessons, math is almost a breeze.

"I get a lot of satisfaction out of this - to be able to help someone," Kharawala said.

Yanellis Sanchez, 12, said last year in the fifth grade, she sweated over subtracting large numbers from smaller ones. And the negative numbers had a negative influence on her grades. She said her teacher helped her in class, but then she'd soon forget.

She said her tutor, Neerja Gursahaney, 16, a Danbury High junior, made math much easier by talking it out, explaining and simplifying.

"She shows me strategies," said Yanellis.

Bear said she's seen a lot more than just improved math skills and higher test scores. She said the program has boosted the confidence of all the young people. The middle schoolers love interacting with the teenagers.

"They're comfortable with the one-on-one and the age difference isn't too great," Patel said. "It's not just math. We ask them about their weekend and get to know about them."